I (don't) love you
by klayn
Summary: If Oliver Queen wasn't an annoying douchebag, Felicity Smoak would be all over that. After all, he's disgustingly rich, devastatingly attractive, single, and head-over-arrowed-ass for her. Too bad she didn't know about the last part. (Olicity Pride and Prejudice au fic)
1. Chapter 1

"Yes- yes, I _know_, Mom, yeah, I'm at work, goodbye!" Felicity quickly hung up her phone, then flopped down into her chair. She sighed loudly.

"What's the matter?" came Sara's voice as she sauntered into Felicity's office.

"My mom. According to her, we simply _must_ go to the annual something-or-other gala, because the amazingly rich Oliver Queen is coming to it and bringing his amazingly rich friend."

"Yeah, I heard about that," replied Sara. "Honestly, I'd go because Oliver Queen is gorgeous and filthy rich, but-"

Felicity interrupted, "No, see, Oliver Queen and his- friend are also single. And _everyone_ knows that rich, single men desperately _need_ to get married. To me and my sisters. Because we're all such catches. I mean- Laurel is a catch, but she's Gorgeous Laurel, and the rest of us are not. I mean we are, but- I'm babbling. Again. Why didn't you stop me?"

"Because it's cu- funny," said Sara, a smirk growing on her face. "Well, if it's any consolation, I'll be there too. My mom said I'm going because even if I don't score anyone hot like Oliver and his friend, I'll still have a chance to meet someone who will save me from becoming a crazy cat lady."

"Sounds like our moms have been talking to each other," Felicity replied. "Although I'm going to assume she didn't actually say you'd become a crazy cat lady. Because- that sounds like something you'd say."

"It was implied," said Sara. "It's like she's living in the 19th century, where any woman who's 25 and single is clearly resigned to being single forever. At least that was what I heard."

Felicity smiled, and was about to reply, but her phone rang. "Aaand work calls. Literally. Lunch at Panera?"

"Sure," replied Sara, who ducked out of Felicity's office area and went off to her own neighboring one. Felicity sighed, pasted a smile on her vivid pink lips, and picked up the phone. "Felicity, I need you to come check on something," came Aiden's voice. "Can you come to my office now?"

"Sure," Felicity said. "I'll be right there." She hung up, got up and sighed. There went her theory that her panda flats could make her day perfect. Aiden, her "supervisor", was a nice guy, but he knew so much less about coding than she did that he always called her to help him out. Then again, the whole "knowing less than Felicity" thing was fairly common here in the IT department at Microsoft- Felicity Smoak was a computer genius, after all.

The rest of the morning passed by in a blur of coding and helping, so that by the time she and Sara went to lunch, she was grateful to get out of the building. On her way out, Felicity texted Laurel to see if she wanted to meet up with her and Sara.

Laurel's reply came just as Felicity and Sara were exiting the building. _Sure. Where?_

_Panera on 8th._

_Great, I'll be there in 20._

"Laurel's apparently joining us," Felicity said as she put away her phone.

"Cool," replied Sara. "How do you think she'll feel about going to the gala?"

"She'll definitely think that going to a ball would cut into her work hours, which could be used to help the people of this city fight against the corrupt upper class that's ruining their lives," Felicity replied. "But she'll say she doesn't mind, because she's sweet like that."

As it turned out, Felicity's prediction was correct. Laurel was saying something about meeting people and enjoying galas, but Felicity could see the slight crease between her eyebrows that indicated that Laurel wasn't looking forward to the gala as much as she said. Still, even if she didn't enjoy it, she'd still be one of the main attractions at the gala- there was a reason she was nicknamed Gorgeous Laurel.

"…anyway, I need help picking out a dress," Felicity heard Sara say, and realized that she'd zoned out. "So we're going to rifle through your closets to see if there's anything that'll fit me."

"I might need some help too," said Laurel. "I want to make sure I look good enough."

"Laurel- and this is with the greatest amount of respect- you could probably wear a potato sack and look beautiful," Felicity replied. "And Sara, you should definitely come over tomorrow for dinner- Mom's making pot roast, and afterwards we can go through dresses. I need one that makes my ass look good."

"So basically any dress you own," said Sara with a smirk.

"Well- okay, yeah, that's true," replied Felicity. "Wait- have you been looking at my ass?"

Felicity saw a flash of fear on Sara's face before her expression morphed into a smile and she answered, "Yeah." Something in her expression seemed to say _deal with it_, so Felicity filed that away for later and continued talking.

After they were finished eating, Felicity and Sara started walking back to the office. On the way there, Felicity's phone chimed with a text alert. She pulled it out to see that she had a text from Iris West.

_There was a spike in his brain activity just now. I'll let you know if there's any more news._

Felicity stopped, rereading the text. Sara continued walking for a few steps before she noticed Felicity wasn't next to her, then turned around and walked back. "What's the matter?"

"Apparently," Felicity said, taking a shaky breath, "There was a spike in Barry's brain activity just now. So maybe he'll- wake up soon."

Sara pulled Felicity into a hug. "Hey, he _will_ wake up," she said reassuringly. "And chances are, this spike might mean it'll be sooner rather than later."

"Yeah," Felicity said. "And, the doctors did say that the fact that he survived the lightning strike means that he's got a good chance of getting better."

"Exactly," replied Sara. "Now, changing the subject back to something more cheerful, is your whole family going to the gala?"

"Yep," answered Felicity, popping the 'p'. "My mom probably wants them to get husbands too. Well, maybe not for McKenna or Shado, but Sin's 21, so the fact that she hasn't had a boyfriend yet is worrying to her."

They talked for a few more minutes before they got back to work, where they went to their offices. When Felicity was alone in hers, she sighed. She might have tried to downplay it, but she really did want to date _some_one. Well, okay, someone decent and attractive, but since her last dating attempt had been almost 3 years ago, she was feeling a bit lonely. Besides, occasionally going clubbing and having one-night stands was fun, but still couldn't erase the feeling of loneliness.

_Well, maybe I'll meet someone at the gala,_ she thought. With that thought, she turned her laptop back on and checked her email, then dove into her work.


	2. Chapter 2

Since I apparently can't put in links, the outfits that have been bolded are ones that I have images for. If you'd like to see the images, I'd recommend reading this chapter on ao3. My username and the title of this story are the same on ao3 as they are here.

* * *

><p>"How about this one?" asked Sara, holding up a bright red dress. Felicity glanced up from her tablet and considered the dress for a second, then said, "Nah. Too…bright. You really would look much better in dark colors."<p>

"Well then why don't you come and pick one out for me? It'll be faster than me going through your closet while you sit around and do _nothing_," replied Sara teasingly.

"I'm not doing nothing," retorted Felicity. "I'm…doing stuff." _More like hacking the police feed so I can keep tabs on my father._ Felicity sighed, then said, "But- you are right." With that, she set down the tablet and walked over to her closet, rummaging through the various dresses. She grabbed a dress that might work and handed it to Sara. "Try that one."

Sara put on the dress, then twirled around in it. "This feels…nice," she said, but Felicity was shaking her head.

"Yeah, but it's not really flattering," replied Felicity. "Take it off. I'm pretty sure I have something that'll work better with your body, assuming Shado or McKenna didn't "borrow" it." She continued going through her closet until she found the **gray and black dress** she was looking for. "This should definitely look good on you," she said as she handed the dress to Sara.

Sara shimmied into the dress. "I may have to permanently borrow this dress," she said. "How do I look?"

"You look amazing, now we just need to work on everything else," replied Felicity. "Not that you don't _normally_ look amazing, but you look really nice right now. Um, do you have shoes? Or do you want to look through mine?"

"I have some black heels," said Sara. "I can- do everything else. I just need this dress."

"Okay, yeah," said Felicity. "Now, what dress should I wear? I mean, I have that really nice **red dress** that I just bought, but I don't know if I should wear something that new to something like this."

Sara opened her mouth, but before she could speak, there was a knock on her door. "Can I come in?" came Laurel's voice.

"Yeah," Felicity called back, and Laurel walked into Felicity's room, holding a **sparkly blue dress** in one hand and a **red dress** in the other. "Which one do you think I should wear? Mom thinks the red one isn't- _appropriate_, so she suggested the blue one."

Felicity said "Did you try them both on?" at the same time that Sara said "Red one. Definitely." They turned to look at each other and grinned, then Sara gestured to Felicity. "Did you try them both on?"

"Not yet," replied Laurel. Felicity nodded, then said, "Try the blue one on first, but I do agree with Sara, the red one would definitely look better. Why does Mom think the red one is inappropriate?"

"I don't know," answered Laurel, taking off her blouse and pants. She pulled on the blue dress and said, "So…"

"I think it's more suited to a party than a gala," replied Felicity. "If that makes any sense. It made sense in my head."

"No, that made sense," said Sara. "Try the red one now." Laurel removed the blue dress and put on the red one.

"That is _much_ better," said Felicity. "You should definitely wear that one. And curl your hair."

"Thank you," replied Laurel as she exited the room. After she closed the door, Felicity flopped onto her bed, picking up her tablet. She noted with some relief that although shots had been fired, no one was hit, which meant that her father was still safe.

"Stop looking at your tablet," commanded Sara. "C'mon, you still have to pick out a dress."

Felicity looked up at Sara, who had a determined expression on her face, and acquiesced, putting her tablet down again and going over to her closet. At the front hung the bright red dress and Felicity glanced wistfully at it, before deciding that it was more appropriate for going on a date.

Felicity started going through the rest of her closet, thumbing aside dress after dress until Sara said, "Stop." Felicity turned around to stare at Sara, who continued, "Why not go with the gold one?" Felicity turned back to see that she had just brushed past a **gold lace dress**. She pulled it out and held it up against her body.

"You would definitely look amazing in that," said Sara.

"Yeah, I would," replied Felicity, a smile growing on her face. "I guess I'll wear this one then."

* * *

><p>Felicity was seething as she stalked away from the ballroom to find an empty corridor. Who the hell did Oliver Queen think he was?<p>

"Barely tolerable," she muttered under her breath. "Let's see how well he likes his bank account being hacked by someone _barely tolerable_."

Once she found a sufficiently deserted corner, she sat down and stared off into the distance, planning the ruination of Oliver Queen. However, as the silence continued, her thoughts calmed down. Being insulted by Oliver Queen, while not exactly a pleasant experience, was certainly not worthy of her draining his considerable financial assets.

Just as she was about to go back, she heard the sound of heels coming her way, and stood up, dusting off her dress. A few seconds later, Sara came around the corner.

"I was starting to worry that you'd been kidnapped," said Sara. "What happened?"

"As it turns out, Oliver Queen is very handsome, very _very_ rich… and a douchebag," replied Felicity. "Um, he and Tommy were talking- near me, I wasn't _trying_ to eavesdrop- and Tommy said that he- Oliver- should dance with someone aside from his sister, and then mentioned me. And…" Felicity trailed off, trying to think of a nice way to paraphrase what Oliver had said.

"And?" prompted Sara.

"And he said that I was barely tolerable, and I talk too much about computers," Felicity said in a rush. "Oh, and apparently, Laurel is very pretty, but she "smiles too much". Which is just a really weird thing to say. I mean, it's not a very good insult, if it was supposed to be an insult, but it's not exactly a compliment either. But- I'm going to stop talking now."

"Good idea," replied Sara with a smirk. "Now come on, let's get you back."

The problem, Felicity reflected, was that up until Oliver had insulted her, she'd been having a pretty good time. Okay, so maybe she wasn't dancing with a lot of people, but earlier that day, she'd gotten another text from Iris that said that Barry's brain activity was back to the state it had been in before the spike a few days ago, so she wasn't feeling cheerful enough to enjoy dancing.

Still, she'd danced a little bit before and after the Merlyn/Queen party had arrived (fashionably late, of course), and honestly, as far as the people in it went, the only one she'd really liked was Thomas "Call me Tommy" Merlyn. He was a few years older than her, had wanted to move to Starling City, was kind of handsome, filthy rich, and at this point, was probably head over heels for Laurel.

If her life was a movie, Felicity was pretty sure that the moment that Laurel and Tommy had been introduced to each other would have been in slow-motion, with a romantic swell from the violins. However, since this was real life, there'd only been lots of intense stares and blushes from both parties.

The other two members of the party were Isabel Merlyn, Tommy's older sister and CEO of some company or other, and Oliver Queen, heir of the Queen family. If Felicity hadn't made it a habit of observing other people, she might have thought Oliver and Isabel were a couple. Isabel wore a **shiny black dress** and a bored expression on her face, and Oliver wore a sharp coal-black suit and a matching expression of boredom. Felicity also noticed the way that Isabel kind of clung to Oliver, but interestingly enough, Oliver didn't seem to notice her all that much. Instead, he spent a lot of time on his phone.

After introductions had been made, Felicity watched Laurel and Tommy all but drive off into the sunset, and decided that since she hadn't been allowed to bring her tablet with her that she might as well go over to the bar and get something to drink. In the meantime, she still managed to get cornered by a few people who were having technical issues with their computers and stuff, and spent a while either helping them or promising to come by and inspect things soon.

After she'd finished her drink, she found herself feeling slightly tipsy and decided to sit down at an empty table. She sipped a glass of water and watched Laurel and Tommy dance, her eyes occasionally flitting towards the corner Sin was in or watching Shado and McKenna circle the room.

When she was feeling completely un-tipsy, she got up to go the bathroom, and was actually exiting the room when she saw Tommy walk up to Oliver.

"Oliver, as your best friend, it is my _duty_ to get you to enjoy yourself," said Tommy. "Which is why you absolutely cannot lurk in this corner any longer."

"I'm not interested in dancing with anyone here," replied Oliver tersely. "Except for your sister, but she's busy talking to people. And possibly Laurel Smoak, but I think I can say that you're going to hog all of her attentions this evening."

"Well…yeah, but can you blame me? She's the most beautiful woman here," said Tommy with a slightly besotted grin.

"You have the right to your own opinion," replied Oliver. "I personally think she looks a bit too…cheerful." At Tommy's incredulous look, Oliver continued, "She smiles too much."

Tommy looked at Oliver skeptically for a few seconds, but then said, "_I_ think there's no such thing as too much of her smiles, but either way, you can't- or won't- dance with the, um, _two_ eligible people in this room. Speaking of which…" he started to walk away, but stopped and turned around. "Hey, how about you dance with Felicity Smoak?"

Oliver looked confused, so Tommy said, "Blond, bright pink lipstick, gold dress? Laurel's sister?"

Oliver's face cleared, and he said, "Not interested. She's…"

"What, too bright?" asked Tommy sarcastically.

"No. Barely tolerable. And I heard a few of her conversations, which all revolved _completely_ around computers," replied Oliver. "So, not interested. Go dance with Laurel."

Tommy held up his hands in defeat, then turned around and walked back to the central part of the room. Felicity, for her part, was furious. She stormed to the exit, almost stepping on Oliver's expensive shoes, but decided against it.

Now, as she and Sara entered the ballroom, Felicity looked around for her family. What she saw helped lift her spirits even more. Laurel and Tommy were still dancing with each other (a slow dance too, and their eyes never left the other's face), her parents were talking with some people, including the city's DA, Sin was still in a corner, and Shado and McKenna had probably managed to bribe someone into getting them drinks, because they were sitting at a table and giggling randomly. Best of all, Oliver Queen's stupid face was nowhere to be seen.

The Smoaks spent another hour at the gala, and Felicity took great delight in telling several people about Oliver insulting her. Her tale of woe was well-received by all who heard it, because while Oliver had started out the gala as "quite a catch", his surly attitude and seeming air of self-importance had started lowering people's opinions of him within an hour of his arrival. By the time the gala was over, the general opinion was that Oliver Queen may have been quite attractive and filthy rich, but was so rude that some people were unshakeable in their belief that he'd have to pay them to date them.

Tommy Merlyn, on the other hand, had ended the evening universally liked. He wasn't quite as devastatingly handsome as Oliver and a smidge less rich, but more than made up for it by being nice to everyone, and talking about bringing business to Starling City by opening up a nightclub. Felicity could also admit that he had gained favor in her books because of his obvious crush on Laurel, who looked equally smitten with him.

The only other deterrent against Tommy was his sister, but even she wasn't too much of a black mark. To Felicity, she seemed a bit rude, but Laurel said that she was quite nice, if a bit driven, and that she had a killer sense of style. Laurel also said that she was the oldest Merlyn girl, and felt like she had to push herself so that she could be accepted, but that goal certainly did help her become a successful CEO a few years ago.

* * *

><p>Felicity was getting ready to go to sleep when she heard someone knocking on her door. Based on the pattern and lightness, it was probably Laurel. "Come in," she called softly, and Laurel came in, closing the door and sitting on the bed next to Felicity.<p>

"So, did you enjoy yourself this evening?" asked Laurel. Felicity looked at Laurel's face and saw that Laurel was itching to talk about Tommy, even though her features remained mostly calm.

"Aside from Oliver Queen insulting me, yes," replied Felicity. "And, his _friend_- I approve. A lot. Well, pending a thorough background check."

Laurel blushed and exclaimed, "Felicity!", but Felicity continued talking. "I mean, unless it turns out that he's a crazy mass murderer who seduces women, kills them, and buries their bodies in his backyard, he seems like quite a catch. And besides, you've dated worse people."

"Yeah, I guess," replied Laurel. "But- don't you think it's a little- I don't know, too much? He gave me his phone number, and asked if I wanted to go out this week!"

"He did? Wow," said Felicity. "Well. Are you? Free?"

"I guess," answered Laurel. "You're sure that's not… too fast?"

"Laurel, you two are head over heels for each other," replied Felicity. "Tell him that you want to go see that rom-com that's coming out Wednesday night." When Laurel hesitated, Felicity said, "Do it!"

"Okay, okay," said Laurel as she stood up. "I will. Goodnight, Felicity."

"Goodnight, Laurel," replied Felicity. "And go send that text. Or else."

* * *

><p>Because the gala was on a Saturday night, Felicity was free the next day, so when she got up at 9:30, she texted Sara to see if she could come over to the Lance's house. At 9:39, Sara texted back to come over at 10, because her mom was making pancakes.<p>

After breakfast, Felicity and Sara went to a park that was a short walk from the Lance's house. When they got there, they sat on a shady bench for a few minutes, enjoying the beautiful day.

Felicity broke the silence by saying, "So last night, I decided that hating Oliver Queen- and hacking his bank account- was a little bit over-the-top, so from now on, I'm just going to ignore him."

"That's a good idea," agreed Sara. "Aside from the fact that it'll get harder to ignore him if your sister and Tommy get married."

"True," replied Felicity. "They're actually going on a date this Wednesday. Well, actually- according to the bug I placed on Laurel's phone, neither of them are calling it a date. Because Laurel is worried that "this" is too fast- whatever "this" is. It's just- two friends. A male and a female who are romantically and sexually interested in each other. Going to see a rom-com. Totally not a date."

Sara chuckled. "Who do they think they're fooling?" she asked.

"Themselves, probably," answered Felicity. "I think their heart eyes were visible from space. Anyway, aside from- rescuing me, how was your evening?"

"Pretty boring," Sara replied with a shrug. "Honestly, hearing about what Oliver said about you was the highlight of my evening." She looked like she was going to say something else, but closed her mouth, a slightly troubled look on her face.

Felicity was going to ask what was troubling her, but Sara beat her to the punch, saying, "Actually, speaking of Oliver Queen, Simon seems to be a fan of his."

"Why?" asked Felicity. "Was Simon even at the gala last night?"

"No, but he was awake when we got home last night, and wanted to ask his "favorite older sister" what the gala was like," replied Sara, and Felicity snorted. Sara was only Simon's "favorite older sister" when he wanted to get something from her. "When I told him about what Oliver said about you, Simon said that Oliver is really rich, so he can do and say what he wants. I, um, set him straight."

"You tickled him mercilessly," stated Felicity.

"Well, yeah," said Sara. "But come on, Oliver called you "barely tolerable". Liking someone who insults you like that deserves merciless tickles."

"Well, thank you for defending my honor like that," Felicity replied with a grin. Her phone chimed with a text alert, and she looked down to see that her mother wanted to know where she was. "That's my mom. I guess I have to go home now, so wish me luck."

"Luck?" asked Sara.

"Yeah, I need to not lose my patience over her gushing about Laurel and Tommy and do something like strangle her or hack one of her bank accounts," replied Felicity. "Like I said, wish me luck."

"Good luck," Sara said as she laughed. Felicity got up and started walking to her car.


	3. Chapter 3

Near the end of this chapter, a character uses "asexual" as an insult. I personally don't condone anything like this, partly because I'm ace, and mostly because using sexual orientations as an insult is really rude. Point is, please don't take me to task over this.

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><p>Oliver was crouched in the rafters of the warehouse, looking down on the deal going down below him. Leo Muller and his thugs were selling shipments of machine guns to one of the gangs in the Glades, and as the Vigilante- as the press were calling him- he had to stop them. The lives of innocent people were at stake.<p>

Not for the first time that night, Oliver wished Digg wasn't out of town, working on some super-secret mission for ARGUS that Amanda Waller had roped him into. It was nice having backup, even if he didn't necessarily need it.

One of Muller's men handed a machine gun to a gangster, who picked it up, an admiring expression crossing his face. That was Oliver's signal.

Oliver nocked and fired an arrow that killed the lights, then nocked and fired another a second later at the gangster holding the gun. The arrow pierced his throat as Oliver dropped from the rafters onto the highest crate, his body ready to roll and fire off another three arrows in quick succession once he straightened. Everyone in the warehouse, despite the fact that Muller had two gun-toting bodyguards and another security member holding a gun, was no match for the leather-clad shadow.

A minute later, everyone except one gangster and Leo Muller was dead, four due to having arrows imbedded in various parts of their bodies, one with a broken neck. Leo Muller himself was unconscious, pinned to a crate by one of Oliver's net arrows, while Oliver had let the gangster run away, free to tell everyone in the Glades that the Vigilante didn't want to see any more guns being brought in.

Oliver smiled. His work here was done.

As he went to his bike, he pulled out his phone to see that Tommy had texted him several times, the bulk of his messages saying that he, Laurel, and Isabel were at a bar called Porter's that was having a karaoke night, and that Felicity Smoak and her friend Sara Lance had also shown up too. At the sight of Felicity's name, Oliver felt his heart flutter, then shook his head. Feelings for someone like Felicity Smoak were a luxury that Oliver Queen, billionaire by day and hooded vigilante by night, just couldn't afford to have (although, he thought, try telling that to his traitorous heart). Still, he texted Tommy back, saying that his phone had been on silent, and that he'd be at the bar in less than an hour.

True to his word, he pulled up to bar 53 minutes later, his bow and arrow and leather outfit exchanged for a dark blue V-neck shirt over a thin white undershirt and blue jeans. When he walked into the bar, he looked for Tommy, and quickly found him sitting at a table with Laurel, talking animatedly. His eyes moved towards the opposite side of the room, where he saw Felicity and her friend Sara at the bar, both of them talking to a tall dark-haired guy. As he watched, Felicity said something, and the dark-haired guy and Sara both laughed.

Before he could stop himself, Oliver started walking across the room. He reached the bar, but managed to refrain from walking right up to Felicity and Sara. He leaned across the bar and said, "Shot of whiskey?"

"Sure thing, honey," replied the bartender. She poured him a shot, which Oliver drank in one quick gulp.

"Long night?" asked the bartender.

"Not really, just a little last-minute thing," replied Oliver. "Thanks." His attention wandered over to Felicity, who was now talking animatedly about some guy named "Aiden" at work, and his latest mishap that she'd had to deal with. Oliver listened to her for a few more minutes, as she started detailing her next story about Aiden, occasionally blushing when she made a verbal slip.

Oliver realized that he had moved a foot closer to Felicity while she was talking, and abruptly stood up, his chair making a loud sound. Felicity whipped around, her blue eyes catching his for a second, before Oliver walked off, his face burning.

* * *

><p>Felicity wasn't sure how she had ended up at Porter's, but there she was, sipping a margarita with Sara while looking at Laurel and Tommy and their painfully obvious heart eyes.<p>

"Painfully obvious to you, perhaps," said Sara. "Honestly, if I didn't know Laurel better, I'd say she doesn't really look all that interested in him."

"Come on," replied Felicity. "She looks as in love with him as possible."

"Again, to you, and me, and people who know her well, but I don't think that, say, _Tommy_ can see that. Besides, you've told me that they're still not calling their dates "dates". I don't know about Laurel, but Tommy might need some more proof of her feelings for him," Sara said.

"Oh, whatever," replied Felicity.

"Y'know, just for that, I'm going to go put you down for a song," retorted Sara, and before Felicity could stop her, she walked off to the sign-up list.

"Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?" came a light voice, and Felicity looked up to see a cute, dark-haired guy indicating the empty seat next to her.

"No, it's empty," Felicity replied. She was about to introduce herself when her phone chimed. She pulled it out of her purse to see a text from Aiden, asking if she could come in tonight and fix a coding error.

_It is Friday night, and I am enjoying not working. I'll come in early on Monday and teach you how to fix it._

As she finished sending off the text, Sara walked back, the smile on her face falling off as she looked at Felicity's expression. "What did Aiden do now?"

"He wants me to come in and fix a coding error. Now," she added. "How on earth is someone that utterly incompetent my _supervisor_?"

"Well, at least he's not asking you to go through the wiring," Sara said.

"Wait- your supervisor is that useless?" came the guy's voice from her left side.

"Yep," Felicity said as Sara said, "Oh, yeah."

"Let me buy you a two a drink, then," said the guy. "Having a crappy boss is something I've had to put up with. I'm Cooper, by the way."

"Well, thank you then, Cooper," said Sara. "I'll have a Manhattan and she'll have another margarita."

That was how Felicity found herself telling Cooper some horror stories about working under Aiden. She was in the middle of one when she heard the sound of a bar chair being pushed back loudly, and she turned to see Oliver Queen getting out of the chair.

Felicity watched Oliver walk off, slightly startled, then turned back to Sara and Cooper. "Um, 'scuse us for sec," she said to Cooper, then grabbed Sara's hand and dragged her off towards the women's bathroom.

"Was Oliver Queen eavesdropping on us?" she asked Sara.

"Looked like it," replied Sara.

"Ugh," Felicity groaned. "Why- why was he doing that? To freak me out?"

"I don't know, ask him," answered Sara. At Felicity's look of disgust, Sara said, "C'mon, he can't be that bad."

"Yeah, I guess," said Felicity with a sigh. "Well, I guess I'll confront him. And you're right- if he tries to intimidate me or something, I'll just hack him or something."

With that resolution in mind, Felicity and Sara walked out of the bathroom and went back to the bar, where Oliver Queen was sitting at the far end, drinking from a large glass of water. "Hey, um- were you intentionally listening to me talk? With Sara and Cooper?"

Oliver huffed out an almost-silent breath, then said, "Not exactly. You tend to put a lot of your body and voice into conversations you're passionate about."

"Was that- you- I can't tell whether that was an insult or a compliment," replied Felicity.

"Well, it'll soon be an insult. You're up, Felicity," interjected Sara. "C'mon. Up you get."

"You're singing?" asked Oliver, turning to look at Felicity.

"That would depend on what you define "singing" as," said Felicity. "See, I sound good in the shower and when I have my earbuds in, but I'm not entirely sure about how I sound without either of those." She took a breath. "So if it turns out I sound better when no one's listening, don't mock me for it."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Oliver murmured as he watched Felicity walk towards the stage. When she started singing- some slow love song- Oliver was pleasantly surprised. Felicity would never have a career in singing, that was sure, but her voice was pleasant nonetheless, and Oliver found himself entranced. When the song ended, he felt a brief pang of sadness, but shoved it away.

Oliver walked over to the sign-up sheet and saw that there were a few duets available. After hearing Felicity sing, he knew that his voice would complement hers very well. Oliver was about to put his and Felicity's names down, when he looked up and saw her heading sort of towards him.

"Excuse me, Felicity," he said, and Felicity froze for a second, the turned to look at Oliver. "Um, would you mind if I put us down to sing a duet?"

"No thanks," Felicity said quickly. "Once was enough, and I have something illegal to do. I said _not_ illegal, right?" She let out a breath. "I'm going to go. Before I can stick my foot farther into my mouth." With that, she hurried off.

Oliver stood by the sign-up list, before chuckling to himself and moving towards the bar. He was sitting there, an empty shot-glass next to him, when he saw Isabel sit down next to him.

"Well, at least there's one decent member of the Smoak family," she said.

"What do you mean?" asked Oliver.

"Laurel seems like a nice girl, but the rest of her family? Don't get me started on them."

Oliver opened his mouth to speak, but apparently Isabel took that as a sign to start insulting the rest of the Smoak family. The parents were obviously not really high-class (and what was with the mother's obsession with matchmaking her daughters?), the two youngest were insufferable boy-crazy teens, the middle was practically invisible, and Felicity was an IT girl, and wasn't even attractive to boot.

"I don't know if I'd agree with you on your last point," Oliver interrupted, feeling a surge of anger at Isabel insulting Felicity.

"Oh?" replied Isabel, looking at him like a predator that had just spotted its prey's weak spot and was getting ready to pounce.

"Her…eyes. They're very pretty," said Oliver. _And her body is gorgeous, and her hair is really nice_.

"Pretty eyes," replied Isabel, who looked slightly taken aback. "Well, at least your time away didn't make you _completely_ asexual."

Oliver sighed, silently wishing that Isabel would just go away. Isabel, despite being a consummate business-woman, didn't seem to pick up on Oliver's thoughts, and kept talking about the perceived faults of the rest of the Smoak family.

* * *

><p>The side story protect and (pre)serve is set between this chapter and the next chapter and includes relevant plot details, so I'd recommend reading that now.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Felicity had been rewatching an old Doctor Who episode on Netflix when her tablet had exploded with police chatter. After a few minutes, Felicity was able to determine that Mathis had kidnapped Laurel and her father, but they'd been rescued and Mathis had been killed by the Vigilante.

When her dad got home, Felicity was pacing nervously in the front hall. As soon as he opened the door, Felicity practically tackled him, holding on to him for longer than necessary as she reassured herself that her father was okay.

"I take it you heard what happened?" her father asked when she let go.

"Yes, and- where's Laurel? Wasn't she also rescued?"

Her father sighed. "The Vigilante told me that Tommy Merlyn took her somewhere, so I checked with him. Right now she's at his mansion. I'll go over there tomorrow to pick her up."

"But she is safe?" asked Felicity.

"Yeah," her father replied. "Sweetheart, why don't you go to sleep now? You do have work in the morning."

"Yeah, I should- definitely do that," said Felicity. "Goodnight, Dad."

* * *

><p>When Felicity woke up, she felt nervous, which made no sense. The Dollmaker was dead, and her father and Laurel were safe, so there was no reason whatsoever that she should be feeling like something bad was about to happen.<p>

The feeling of approaching calamity only grew stronger as the day passed, until by the time she was walking home from work, she was jumping at every little noise. She knew that she shouldn't be scared- she had pepper spray and she knew some self-defense- but she couldn't help herself.

The ground beneath Felicity's feet suddenly felt like it was moving, and Felicity stumbled, falling down. However, the ground continued to move beneath her, and it took a few seconds for Felicity to realize that this was an earthquake. She tried to get up and run, but only succeeded in stumbling a few steps forward and falling onto her unprotected knees.

There was a creaking sound next to her, and Felicity looked over to see a streetlight starting to fall towards her. Felicity started to let out a shriek-

-which turned into and "oomph!" as someone slammed into her and picked her up, throwing her just out of the path of the falling lamp. Felicity turned around to see a green-leather-covered chest.

_I just got rescued from a falling streetlight by the Vigilante_, she thought, then heard a chuckle vibrating through the chest she was tucked firmly against.

"Did I just say that?" she asked weakly.

"Yes," came the reply, and either Felicity or the Vigilante stepped back, because now there was some space between them.

"Um…thank you," Felicity said hurriedly. "For. Um. What were you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood," the Vigilante said after an almost imperceptible pause. "Stay safe, Felicity." With that, the Vigilante turned and ran off, disappearing in seconds into an alley.

Felicity stood frozen for a few seconds, then snapped back to reality when the ground started shaking again. She quickly hurried towards the doorway of the nearest building and crouched inside it, waiting for the shakes to pass.

By the time Felicity made it home, it had been roughly an hour since the Vigilante had rescued her. Her house was mostly empty- her dad was presumably coordinating help, and her mom, Laurel, McKenna, and Shado weren't in the house either. The only person there was Sin, who was sitting on the front step in a hoodie and pajama pants, her phone in her hand.

" 'Sup," said Sin as Felicity sat down next to her.

Felicity debated telling her that she'd run into the Vigilante, but decided against it, shrugging her shoulders in reply.

Not long after that, Felicity's phone started ringing, and she saw that Sara was calling. "Yeah?" she said.

"Are you okay?" asked Sara.

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"Little bit bruised, but otherwise fine," replied Sara. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Thanks," said Felicity. "Speaking of which, I should probably check in on the rest of my family."

"Okay," answered Sara. Felicity hung up and called her father's number.

He picked up on the 4th ring. "I'm a little busy right now, sweetheart," he said. "But your mom and McKenna and Shado are at the precinct."

"Laurel's not with you?" asked Felicity.

"She's still with Tommy Merlyn," replied her father. "I'm sure she's fine."

"Okay. Oh, and Sin and I are at home. We're safe," she added.

"Okay, go- what? Oh. Felicity, I have to go." He hung up immediately afterward.

Felicity put her phone away and sat silently for a minute, then started to shiver. "Sin?"

"Yeah?"

"Everyone except Laurel is at the precinct. Wanna go there?"

"Sure," replied Sin.

By the time they got to the precinct, Felicity was feeling very tired, the nervous energy of the whole day dying down. One of the officers said that her family was in the overnight quarters, so Felicity and Sin went there. Felicity managed to get into a cot and take off her glasses and shoes before she fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Oliver sat in the waiting room of Starling City General next to Tommy. Both men were silent, but while Oliver was pretty sure Tommy's silence came from being worried about Laurel, Oliver was internally beating himself up.<p>

He had known that he shouldn't follow Felicity Smoak around, but when he'd seen her walking as he'd traversed the rooftops of Starling City, he found himself following her. It had been a good idea, too- if he hadn't been there, she might have been seriously injured by the falling lamp. Saving her life was okay.

What was _not_ okay was the feeling of relief that he'd managed to save her, or the fact that he'd held her for way too long afterwards, or that he'd been flustered enough when she'd asked why he was there that the only thing he could say was that he'd just been in the neighborhood.

What was it about Felicity Smoak that made Oliver act irrationally around her?


	5. Chapter 5

Two days after the earthquake, Felicity found herself looking up at the very intimidating front entrance of the mansion that Tommy Merlyn had apparently bought when he moved to Starling City.

"It's just a house," Felicity said to herself. "An enormous, insanely expensive house. It is also a house that has Laurel in it, so you are going to walk up to that door and knock on it."

Someone chuckled behind her, and Felicity whirled around to see Oliver Queen standing a few feet behind her, wearing jeans and a blue shirt that brought out his ridiculously blue eyes. "Oliver! I mean- Mr. Queen," Felicity squeaked. "I- didn't- know you were there."

"Mr. Queen was my father," he said. "Just call me Oliver."

"Right, because he's dead. I mean- he got into a car accident. I mean- I'm going to stop babbling. In 3, 2, 1. Okay. I was just-" Felicity made some sort of gesture towards the door. "I came to tell Laurel that since our house got damaged by the quake, she's going to have to stay here a little bit longer. So- yeah." Felicity blushed, internally berating herself for being reduced to fracturing sentences in front of a guy she didn't like.

"Yeah," Oliver replied, his voice slightly breathy. He was looking at her oddly, then blinked and walked briskly towards the door, opening it for her. "I'll- show you what room she's in."

"Just tell me where she is," Felicity said, not wanting to spend another second in Oliver Queen's presence. The less material he had to mock her with, the better.

"Up the stairs, turn right, first hallway, 2nd door on the left," replied Oliver succinctly.

"Thanks," said Felicity, already lifting the suitcase filled with clothes and other supplies that she'd managed to salvage from Laurel's room. She quickly walked up the stairs and followed Oliver's instructions, where she opened the door to find Laurel sitting on a massive poster bed, her cast-covered leg lying straight while her other leg was folded up against it, reading a book.

"So, I have news," Felicity said as she entered the room. Laurel put down the book and asked, "What news?"

"Well, for starters, our house got damaged in the earthquake," replied Felicity. "Which brings me to my second item- your room is damaged and it'll apparently take a while to repair. Which brings me to my third item- mom wants you to stay here until our house is safe again. Which could take a while, according to her. With that in mind- I have supplies." With that, Felicity dumped the suitcase on the floor. "And finally- how are you holding up?"

"My leg still hurts, but at least I'm definitely safe," Laurel replied. At Felicity's questioning look, Laurel elaborated. "After I got back here, the- Vigilante, came and checked on me."

"Well, that's…good? I mean, he probably cares a little bit about you, if he's checking up on you," said Felicity. "Speaking of which- how are you and Tommy handling cohabitation?"

"I'd hardly call it cohabitation," replied Laurel. "His room is in another wing."

"And you know this because?" Felicity asked, smirking.

"Because he gave me a tour of the house," Laurel answered primly. At Felicity's raised eyebrow, she continued, "A perfectly _innocent_ tour."

"She speaks the truth," came Tommy's voice from the doorway, which startled Felicity. "Hello, Felicity."

"Jeez," complained Felicity, sitting back down. "Am I wearing a sign that says "sneak up on me"? Your friend did the exact same thing when I got here."

"I think I'll apologize on his behalf," replied Tommy, sauntering into the room and sitting on a chair. "What's with the suitcase?"

"Our house got damaged, which means that my mother wants Laurel to stay here until it's- safe to live in again, I guess. Pending your approval, of course," said Felicity.

"That would be fine," replied Tommy. "Laurel is welcome to stay here as long as she needs."

"Good," said Felicity. "Well, I should probably get going now."

"Felicity, where's everyone else staying?" asked Laurel as Felicity got off the bed.

"Sin, McKenna, and Shado are staying with Aunt Dinah and Uncle Mark, and Mom and Dad and I are staying at a hotel," answered Felicity. "So I need to go home and pack." At Laurel's concerned look, Felicity said, "I have my own room. I need it, too- some of my babies were damaged."

"Babies?" asked Tommy incredulously.

"Her computers," replied Laurel.

"They _are_ my babies, I _built_ them," protested Felicity. "Anyway, I need to get going."

"Hey, how would your parents feel if you stayed here?" asked Tommy as Felicity was leaving the room. Felicity stopped, and said, "Um…"

"Because I have a ton of guest rooms, and your parents won't have to pay for two hotel rooms," continued Tommy.

"And we'd be under the same roof," added Laurel.

Felicity considered it for a few seconds. On the plus side, staying in Tommy's mansion would be nicer and cheaper than staying in a hotel room, and she would be near Laurel. In addition, since the Vigilante had checked in on Laurel, the house might be safer than staying in a hotel. However, since she'd run into Oliver earlier, it was safe to assume that she might see him more often than she planned.

After deliberating for a few seconds, Felicity decided that the pros outweighed the cons and said, "I'll text Mom and Dad to let them know about the change in plans. But I do have to go back and get my stuff. Actually, Laurel- go through the suitcase and text me if you want anything else."

"I will," replied Laurel, and Felicity grinned. "I'll be back in- like 2 hours." As she left the room, she thought that even the downside might be fixable. After all, the mansion was huge- she could easily avoid Oliver.

Precisely 1 hour and 57 minutes later, Felicity pulled back up to the front of the mansion. To Felicity's surprise, Oliver was waiting there, and he helped her take the suitcases full of clothes and computer equipment up to Felicity's room, which was next to an empty work-room with lots of desks and outlets, and also across the hall from his room.

_Well, it beats staying in a hotel_, Felicity thought. She'd just have to get used to being closer to Oliver Queen than she'd like.

Oliver, for his part, found that he quite enjoyed looking at the sight of Felicity doing physical work. The task of carrying suitcases and moving tables around in the spare room had given her a healthy flush of exertion, and Oliver idly found himself wondering if how far down that flush went and if there were other sorts of activities that could induce it.

When Felicity was done getting everything ready, she locked herself into her bedroom, and Oliver spent a few seconds staring at her closed door before deciding to work out in the courtyard that the windows in her room opened towards. Before he could move, however, Isabel walked past him and said, "Are her eyes so pretty now that she's been doing some work?"

"Exercise appears to make them brighter," replied Oliver, before turning and entering his room. Isabel stood outside for a second, looking slightly shocked, then turned to glare briefly at Felicity's door before stalking off.


	6. Chapter 6

Later that evening, when she was too hungry to avoid eating, Felicity poked her head out of her room. Thankfully, there was no sight of Oliver, so Felicity exited her room and attempted to find the kitchen.

After 5 minutes, Felicity could admit that she was hopelessly lost, and pulled out her cell phone and called Laurel, who picked up on the 2nd ring.

"What is it?" Laurel asked.

"I'm regretting not getting a tour of the mansion, because I am completely lost," Felicity admitted. "Could you send someone so I can become un-lost?"

Felicity heard Laurel say something in a muffled tone, then a muffled male voice replying. "Oliver says he'd be glad to get you un-lost. Here, Oliver," and after a bit of shuffling, Oliver's voice said, "Where are you?"

Felicity sighed internally, but said, "In front of a…locked pair of double doors, opposite what seems to be a Georgia O'Keefe painting."

"I'll be there in a minute," Oliver said and hung up.

"Okay," Felicity muttered to herself. "Just be civil, and don't stick your foot in your mouth. You can do this."

A few seconds after her little pep speech, Felicity saw Oliver come into view. "Thanks for, um, rescuing me," Felicity said.

"It's no problem," Oliver said, staring intently at her.

Felicity flushed a little at Oliver's staring (was her dress stained or something?) and started to talk. "Do you think it'd be too much of a hassle to put signs this house? Like, bathroom, kitchen, storage room with cupboard to Narnia, library pool…"

"Library pool?" asked Oliver slowly.

"In 11's first episode, he was in a pool that was in a library. In the updated TARDIS," Felicity said. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you."

"Afraid not," replied Oliver.

"Doctor Who. Actually, where are you taking me? I'd like to go to the kitchen. Cause I'm hungry."

"We were all in the game room, but you should probably eat if you're hungry," said Oliver. He quickly made a right turn, and walked briskly down the corridor, and Felicity hurried to keep up. She saw Oliver turn slightly towards her as he walked, his mouth starting to open, but he quickly shut it and turned away, leaving Felicity to wonder what he was going to say.

"Here's the kitchen, help yourself," said Oliver when they finally reached the kitchen. Felicity walked over to the fridge and opened it.

"Wow," she muttered under her breath. "That is a lot of food. Um, I can have- anything? There isn't stuff reserved especially for you, or Tommy, or Isabel?"

"Can't say there is," replied Oliver

"In that case, I'm going to have this delicious-looking salmon," said Felicity, taking out a container.

* * *

><p>After Felicity was done eating, Oliver took her to the game room. Felicity peeked in and saw that Tommy and Isabel were playing some sort of Wii sport, so she said, "Would you mind taking me back to my room so I can get my tablet?"<p>

"You don't like Wii?" asked Oliver.

"Too clumsy. I always hit someone else- or myself," replied Felicity. "At least with my tablet, I'll be able to do something instead of sit around and be bored."

Oliver chuckled at that, but then lapsed into silence. When they reached her room, Oliver said, "I'd be happy to give you a tour of the house, so you can get around by yourself."

"I'll just create a map on my phone," said Felicity. "But thanks." Felicity was determined to spend as little time with Oliver Queen and his weird looks as possible.

When they got back to the game room, Tommy and Isabel were still playing, while Laurel was sitting on a couch, her casted leg propped up on a stool. Felicity immediately moved over to the couch to sit next to Laurel.

"How's your leg holding up?" she asks as she pulls out her tablet.

"Still a bit broken, but everyone here has been very nice about it," replied Laurel. "Tommy said he's going to keep driving me to work until I can drive again."

"That is actually very sweet of him," said Felicity, as Tommy started walking over to them. "And speak of the devil. I mean, you're not the devil, it's just- you know that, and I know that, and I'm going to stop shoving my foot further into my mouth."

Tommy smiled at Felicity, then turned to look at Laurel, and the smile transformed into a wide grin. He sat down next to Laurel, and Felicity could see the exact moment that the two of them entered their own private little universe. She sighed and turned on her tablet. At least coding wouldn't abandon her.

After a few minutes, Laurel said that she was beginning to feel tired, so Tommy offered to take her to her room. Felicity couldn't help the single huff of laughter she let out, but fortunately, no one noticed. Once Tommy and Laurel had left the room, Felicity returned her attention to a particularly frustrating piece of code.

"Felicity, do you want to play Wii tennis with me?" asked Isabel a minute later.

"Um, no. I'm way too clumsy," replied Felicity. "Besides, I have stuff I need to do." She held up her tablet.

"It seems like you spend your whole day fixing computers," said Isabel dryly.

"Appearances can be deceiving. I do- some other stuff," Felicity retorted. "I've built computers- my babies, and for other people too."

"I wish I could say the same thing, but I'm honestly hopeless that kind of stuff," Tommy said from the doorway, causing Felicity to start a bit. "It's not that I don't like them, it's just not what I'm good at."

"Unlike Oliver," interjected Isabel snidely. "You had a minor in computer science, right?"

"I did," replied Oliver tersely. "And I worked hard at it, too."

"It'll definitely help you when you're running Queen Consolidated," said Isabel. "Honestly, Tommy, I do think you should try to take up running Merlyn Global Group. You might be able to make it as successful as QC."

Tommy snorted. "I think if I wanted to run a company like QC, I'd have better luck trying to buy it out than building up Merlyn Global."

At this point, Felicity had put down her tablet, her attention consumed by the conversation between her hosts- it was much more interesting than going through coding. Computers were actually one of the two loves of her life, the other being observing people and their interactions, and right now, she was observing some very interesting people.

To her delight, the conversation between Oliver, Isabel, and Tommy did not die down, instead moving onto another subject- Oliver's sister, Thea Queen. Oliver had chuckled at something he'd seen on his phone (which Felicity _did not_ find attractive) and started typing out a reply on it.

"Is that your sister?" asked Isabel.

"Yes," replied Oliver, not looking up from his phone.

"How is she? I haven't seen her in so long," said Isabel. "Oh, and could you tell her that I saw that painting she posted about, and it was amazing."

"Or you could tell her yourself," replied Oliver. "You already have her email address."

"She's just doing so well these days. Didn't she just graduate from college? And I thought I saw that she was doing archery."

"No, that's next year," said Oliver. "And she's…getting into archery." The second half of the sentence was accompanied by a small smile.

"So she's basically just doing what everyone else her age does," said Tommy. At the stares he got from Isabel and Oliver, he continued. "Well, pretty much everyone goes to college, and does some form of arts, and does some sports."

Oliver snorted. "Which is why I'd hardly say that people who do those things are really- extraordinary in any way. I can only say that I know about half a dozen people who are really high achievers."

"Wow," Felicity said. "Please enlighten us as to what makes a person _extraordinary_."

Oliver started to open his mouth, but Isabel beat him to the punch. "Well-traveled, for one, and by that necessity, they should know at least Chinese, German, Spanish, and French, and maybe a dialect or two of Arabic. Creatively talented, well-read, at least two college degrees, and a, well, je ne sais quoi."

"And they should be able to successfully manage technology," said Oliver.

"Are you sure you know _half a dozen_ people who can do all this? Because that seems a little, well, impossible," retorted Felicity.

"Probably because you haven't really had the opportunity to travel a lot," remarked Isabel. "I know plenty of people like that."

"I'm sure you do," replied Felicity, barely keeping the contempt out of her voice. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take care of my computers. You guys have fun." With that, she grabbed her tablet and walked out of the room.

Oliver couldn't help but look at her as she walked out of the room. As soon as the door closed, however, Isabel said, "Was she even trying? Putting people down to make herself seem better is unspeakably rude."

"It is," replied Oliver, whom Isabel's comment was primarily addressed to. "If that was indeed her aim." His answer was not enough encouragement for Isabel to continue talking, and she fell silent.


End file.
